Jane Austen's Emma

The third and final installment of PBS's new production of Emma aired Sunday night. I was sure I had the DVR set properly before my husband and I headed out to a Superbowl party. Unfortunately, it taped another show, Miss Austen Regrets, which I'm sure is great, but since it wasn't Emma, in my disappointment, I deleted that. Now I'm on the waiting list on Netflix for this version of Emma, thankful it's already available, I'll just have to wait a bit for my turn.

I have to say that on the first two Sunday nights of Emma, I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Emma Twitter Party, tweeting during the show and seeing what everyone else was saying about casting, costumes, and all other things Austen.

There's still more PBS fun to come, which I will make sure the DVR is set properly for, or watch it while it's airing. This Sunday night is Northanger Abbey (on my 2009 book club reading list), and Persuasion is February 21. Check your local listings for times.

Besides all of that Austen fun, I'll soon be reading my 2010 book club Austen selection, Sense and Sensibility. And, I have the Hugh Grant/Kate Winslet/Emma Thompson movie on VHS to watch once I'm finished.

I recently listened to a podcast hosted by the book publisher, Penguin, on Elizabeth Gaskell and Jane Austen, and why the stories of both these novelists have been adapted to the screen so often. The general consensus is that Austen's novels are funny and engaging with a lot of dialogue, so therefore, they translate easily into movie form. In another episode called "Why We Love Jane Austen," socially accepted behavior, Austen movie adaptations and her influence on contemporary literature is discussed (Ian McEwan's Atonement=Northanger Abbey and Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series=an updated Pride and Prejudice plot). To subscribe to this podcast, visit the iTunes store and search for "Penguin Classics on Air." (NOTE: A blog post on literary podcasts coming soon.)

Here's an article worth checking out from the Wall Street Journal called "What Would Jane Do? How a 19th-century spinster serves as a moral compass in today's world." To read it, click here.

Even as I've been writing this blog post, I saw a tweet from PBS's Masterpiece Theatre with a link to an article entitled, "What Did Jane Austen Know About Social Media?" To see that interesting article, click here.